Spruce Haven Zoo still at odds with OSPCA

Spruce Haven Zoo's Helen Marshall is distraught, to say the least, over the Zoo's relationship with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA).   

Marshall, who is co-owner and operator of the facility with her husband Ken, told SooToday.com this week she is frustrated with a series of orders issued by the OSPCA, in which the agency is demanding significant changes in the way animals at the Zoo are being housed.

As reported in August by SooToday.com, the Marshalls feel strongly that ongoing trouble with the OSPCA stems from complaints raised by Zoocheck Canada three years ago.

In August, 2010, Zoocheck criticized the enclosures where the animals are kept at the Third Line facility, which has been in business since 1988.

In a report, Zoocheck claimed most enclosures were too small, that the animals needed clean drinking water, bedding and privacy, and that the predators and prey animals were too close together.

An August 14, 2013 visit from the OSPCA did not happen as expected.    

Supporters of the Marshalls turned out to protest what was expected to be removal of several Spruce Haven animals by the OSPCA that day.

Instead, Ken Marshall told us a verbal agreement had been reached between Spruce Haven Zoo and the OSPCA regarding complaints aimed at the Zoo, and that in the verbal agreement, Spruce Haven Zoo’s own veterinarian and a vet appointed with the OSPCA would compile a report on Zoo conditions and that Spruce Haven would abide by any recommendations or rulings contained in that report.

Regardless, Helen Marshall told us the OSPCA-issued orders keep piling up.

Marshall told us: "They (the OSPCA) haven't been open to helping us in any way."

"They have just slapped order after order on us."

Among those orders, she said, are those pertaining to a 26-year-old bear named Ben (pictured), a 14-year-old coyote and two lions at Spruce Haven.

"The coyote, the OSPCA says, is lonesome and needs a mate," Marshall said.

"She is not alone, the lynx beside her is her friend, I visit her,  and many other people come to see her.  She is not alone, she's like a happy old dog. They are saying the coyote should be put in another zoo, and there's no way any of our animals are leaving here."

"These are my animals, I'm not hoarding, we've downsized and we're just looking after the old animals we have."

Marshall added: "They (the OSPCA) say the lions need two separate, heated dens.  They've slept together for the past 10 years and never even had a sniffle, but now according to the OSPCA they need two separate heated dens.  They're litter mates and de-clawed and been together all their life."

As for Ben, Marshall said "Zoocheck Canada says Ben's enclosure is the worst they've ever seen."

"I think Ben's enclosure is wonderful, I have cared for him for 26 years.  He's my favourite animal on this property and he is not unhappy, he is totally amazing.  There's no way I would ever do anything to put stress on him."    

Marshall claims Spruce Haven is being bullied by the OSPCA, and that the agency's orders are uncalled for.

"It doesn't matter if they're wrong, they are doing everything they can to prove they're right," Marshall said.

"We've had four months of this, one thing after another."

There are various OSPCA compliance deadlines on 20 different orders slapped on Spruce Haven, Marshall said.

One deadline is December 31, 2013, while others extend as far as 2015.

The next deadline is October 22, regarding proper locks on enclosures.

Marshall insists proper locks have been installed on all enclosures.

"I don't want to see them (the OSPCA) here," Marshall said, adding Spruce Haven has hired a lawyer.

Marshall insists Spruce Haven has obeyed all orders, only to have more orders slapped on them.

OSPCA Senior Inspector Lynn Michaud, with whom the Marshalls have been communicating, could not be reached for comment Friday.

In contrast to Marshall's claims the OSPCA has not offered advice to help Spruce Haven in its care of its animals, OSPCA Investigations and Communications Officer Brad Dewar, speaking to SooToday.com Friday from the organization's head office in Newmarket, said: "Because this is currently an open investigation I can't go into any details, but anytime we receive word of concerns we check the validity of those concerns and our goal is to work with the owners to provide standards of care under provincial legislation, and written orders are a means to accomplish that."

"Orders give owners a date and time in which to meet those standards."

"Our goal is always to work with the owner," Dewar said.

"When it comes to the possibility of animals being removed from a zoo, that's an absolute last resort.  That's only if a person fails to comply in accordance with the law.  Removal of animals takes place only when all other efforts to work with the owners have been exhausted."